After taking the first-round lead at the African Bank Sunshine Tour Championship on Wednesday, Martin Rohwer has admitted he wasn’t originally scheduled to compete in South Africa now.
The Covid-19 pandemic brought a lot of disruption and changes to the season and player schedules, with a number of adjustments made along the way back to competitive golf.
The compromises at a local level led to the establishment of the Sunshine Tour’s new Rise-Up Series, which got under way at Killarney Country Club last week and is currently testing some of South Africa’s best professional golfers at Glendower Golf Club.
Watch: Rohwer leads at Glendower
Rohwer, though, was scheduled to compete in Europe for the large part of 2020 but due to the coronavirus he wasn’t able to and is currently trying to make the most of it on the Sunshine Tour.
‘I was going to go to Europe for a few Challenge Tour events and then the European Tour’s Qualifying School,’ Rohwer said on Wednesday.
A beautiful morning at @GlendowerGC for the start of the @AfricanBank Sunshine Tour Championship. ⛳️ #Gr8nessBeginsHere #RiseUpSeries pic.twitter.com/AHuHBz5dQi
— Compleat Golfer (@CompleatGolfer) August 26, 2020
‘I was also exempted into the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship over there until that all changed. But fortunately my exemptions will carry through to next year. So, I’m just going to play as many tournaments as I can here and do as well as I can.’
The 27-year-old started the week with a bang after his bogey-free opening-round 65, which gave him a one-shot lead over Lyle Rowe.
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Having finished seventh at last week’s testing Betway Championship, Rohwer’s form in 2020 has been particularly impressive after starting the year on the front foot with a top-10 finish at the South African Open.
‘I played well in January and February, so it’s good to see that I’ve maintained that form after lockdown. I’m extremely happy with my 65 today. I hit the ball well from tee to green and I gave myself chances throughout the round. I drove the ball really well and hit most of the fairways, so I had a lot of birdie chances out there,’ he added following his first round.
